The Single Most Important Idea |
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The Single Most Important Idea Needed to End War is the Belief that it is Possible
"Believe it can be done. When you believe something can be done, really believe, your mind will find the ways to do it. Believing a solution paves the way to solution". - Dr. David Schwartz
When this website was first envisioned (2003), most people were highly skeptical that humanity could ever escape the curse of war. If asked, "Do you believe it is possible for humans to create a future without war," the overwhelming majority of people answered, No.
No man gives generously of his hard-won financial resources to the bottomless pit of a lost cause.
No woman works tirelessly to reach a goal her heart believes can never be reached.
No one passionately reaches out to enlist others in a campaign that's a fool's dream.
No politicians will wage a campaign to end wars if they judge the idea to be ridiculous. We may admire Don Quixote's willingness and unswerving determination to dream the impossible dream, but we don't want to be him.
We can never build something magnificent if we don't believe in its value and in our ability to accomplish the task. To end wars, we must believe it is possible.
The goals of this website are:
No man gives generously of his hard-won financial resources to the bottomless pit of a lost cause.
No woman works tirelessly to reach a goal her heart believes can never be reached.
No one passionately reaches out to enlist others in a campaign that's a fool's dream.
No politicians will wage a campaign to end wars if they judge the idea to be ridiculous. We may admire Don Quixote's willingness and unswerving determination to dream the impossible dream, but we don't want to be him.
We can never build something magnificent if we don't believe in its value and in our ability to accomplish the task. To end wars, we must believe it is possible.
The goals of this website are:
- to highlight the importance of belief if we are to end war (see Embrace The Goal)
- to briefly describe nine cornerstones upon which a campaign to end war must be built (see Nine Cornerstones)
- to place this effort in its historical context (see How Far We Have Come)
- to suggest the importance of having a vision to guide a campaign to end wars (see The Vision Thing)
- to offer a proposed action plan for how a campaign to end war could function (coming soon)
- to indicate how long this campaign might take (see How Long It Will Take)
- to reach out to and convince opinion makers—media people, academics focused on conflicts and their resolution, religious leaders, high profile personalities, "influencers"—so that they pursude potential leaders and supporters across the globe to embrace a great cultural paradigm shift to nonviolent conflict resolution.
"There's something more powerful than all the armies in the world and that's an idea whose time has come." - Victor Hugo